Sharing solutions to organize and transform your space.
Want to start your summer off right with less stress? I’ll be sharing tips to get organized for summer tomorrow on the Martha Stewart Living Radio show “Living Today.” Tune in at 3pm Eastern time on Thursday June 23rd.
If you don’t have SIRIUS/XM radio, you can sign up for a FREE 7 day trial and listen to the show!
For my donations this Spring I’ve been using the Salvation Army’s online donation guide to help with estimates for tax purposes. I realized I had been undervaluing some of my items. I also found one from Goodwill.
See if these tools can help you!
Do you have a Mother’s Day tradition with your Mom or family?
I look forward to Mother’s Day every year…not only for the special meals and fun family outing we take, but for a clean and organized car.
After the long winter by May my car can really use a good cleaning. It’s finally time to replace the ice-scraper with the sunscreen and beach towels.
So what is my Mother’s Day gift each year? My husband gets my car detailed. It is by far my most favorite gift and has become our tradition.
It is also a reminder that the perfect gift doesn’t always have to mean buying more stuff.
So this Mother’s Day, get creative! What can you do to make your Mom’s life a little easier?
And for my tips on clearing clutter in your car, read my quotes in The Boston Globe article, “Cleaning, organizing tips to help prolong new car’s shine.”
Have the urge to do some spring cleaning of your basement, attic or the back of the closet? Now is the time to de-clutter…and get cash for your items at the LexFUN Consignment Sale.
LexFUN is Lexington’s Five and Under Network, an organization that offers social and educational opportunities to families with children, birth to age five. Their one-day Consignment Sale is happening Saturday, May 7th at St. Brigid’s Parish in Lexington.
As a seller you can consign toys, games, books, clothes, high chairs and other baby gear. Register online, gather and tag your items (special barcode tags), and drop them off May 5th or 6th.
Like Toy Story 3, you will have de-cluttered, and given your toys new life in a new home! (And have some extra cash in your pocket.)
"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." - William Morris
Often a simple solution is the best. For this client using the vertical space with shelves made a huge impact in her home.
For this room, we first emptied the bags and drawers, and sorted all the items (the client gave a lot away!). She purchased the shelving unit and found good containers to use to store the different kinds of items. It’s important to know what you want to store BEFORE getting the containers.
Check out the before and after photos:
The client says: “Since organizing the shelves, I have a quicker and easier time cleaning up. Everything has a place so I know where to put things. I’m not buying the same thing over and over again because I can't find it, and I stopped impulse purchases because I don't have the space to store the extra items.”
Recently a client wrote to me…”Just wanted to tell you that, a couple years after your initial visit, we're still organized! I hate to remember how our house was before... Happy 2011!”
This is the best thing that a client can say to me – it means I’ve done my job. It is possible to get organized and learn the habits, tricks, and tools to help you stay organized.
If you are ready to take the first step, give me a call at 617-905-7762 or email elizabeth@thatsneatorganizing.com
It’s Winter in New England and we’ve had our share of snow recently. With last week’s major storm came the snow days.
It was joyful to watch and help my daughter create Lego towns for hours during the snow storm; of course these were scattered across the living and dining room.
After the storm it was my birthday and my family had an amazing weekend full of special activities. I enjoyed every minute of the fun and ignored the laundry, Legos and emails piling up.
Needless to say, we were off our regular routine.
But that is part of life, and we’ve got to take the unexpected (snow days) and expected (birthday fun) changes to our regular routine. After all, being organized is not a constant state and the special times are what we’ll remember!
Some people say that if you are organized you miss out on the fun. If you do spend hours alphabetizing your spices then yes, life may pass you by.
But I find that generally being organized helps me enjoy the special times…because I know I can get back on track when I have to.
How to bounce back?
So the next time your routine is upset, roll with it and be ready to reset.
If you’d like to tackle an organizing project each month and start to plan ahead, our desk calendar, 12 Months of Organizing: A Quarter At a Time, can help!
Co-created with my cousin, interior designer and stylist Janna Lufkin, the calendar offers inspiring photos and simple projects.
Only a few are left, and you can purchase here or contact me.
Sign up for The Neat Sheet newsletter from That’s Neat! Organizing and discover two quick projects to start your year off right!
Always feel like you are playing catch up? This year, resolve to plan ahead.
Our 2011 desk calendar, 12 Months of Organizing: A Quarter At a Time is designed to help! The calendar gives you an organizing project each month and a gentle nudge to think ahead to the next quarter.
Co-created with my cousin Janna Lufkin, we hope you'll find that keeping ahead of things is how you're able to do what you love to do. If you start slow and decide to tackle just one project each month, you'll get the hang of it in no time.
Wishing you an organized 2011.
To all my fabulous clients, supporters, and friends: thank you for your support in 2010! It’s been a wonderful year, and I wish you and your families a joyous 2011!
Recently I posted about how to make an effective list. Great minds think alike: the January edition of Real Simple magazine has a useful printable To Do List. And as I recommended, the list is gives a context to the “to do” items and uses action verbs. Try it and see if it works for you.
Help a family in need with a warm coat this Fall. Do a purge of your winter coats—adults and kids—and donate your unwanted coats and jackets to Anton’s Coats for Kids.
Anton’s locations will accept gently used warm jackets and coats (no rips or broken zippers please) now through January 8, 2011.
Coats are distributed to local community agencies including Lowell Wish Project, Mass. Association for Community Action, Middlesex Human Service Agency, Rosie’s Place and the Salvation Army.
Get started today!
Arlington residents, mark your calendars: now is the time to de-clutter your basement and get rid of that stuff! Saturday Nov. 13th is the next town recycling day at the DPW Yard from 9am to 1pm. They offer easy drop off of items, including:
Read more about Arlington's Community Collection Day, and start working on your basement this weekend!
PS: This is only open to Arlington residents. Contact your town’s department of public works to see if they offer a similar event.
Can small changes in your life really make you happier? After reading Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project, I believe the answer is yes!
For one year, Rubin sets out to read all she can about what makes people happy, and then test out several of the ideas as changes in her own life. Each month her changes focus on a theme, like friendship, work or marriage.
In January, the first month of her project, Rubin focuses on ways to boost her energy, and her changes include going to sleep earlier and exercising better. But she also adds organizing to her Jan plan…getting rid of the clutter that accumulated in the corners of her apartment, and also taking care of some long-overdue tasks.
Rubin guesses that creating “outer order…would bring inner peace” (p. 18) and that completing a nagging task would help clear her mental clutter. At the end of the January, after Rubin has cleared her clutter and To Do List, she shares, “I was astonished by the change of energy and satisfaction I got from creating order” (p. 37).
I love how she connects the idea of organizing to getting more energy. I’ve found the same to be true: crossing a critical project off my list or creating order out of chaos does create positive energy, and I tend to feel happier.
Can you use a new burst of energy in your life? Try 10 minutes a day of de-cluttering and tackling that nagging task and see how you feel.
For more on The Happiness Project, including online tools to start your own project, check out Gretchen Rubin’s blog.
My cousin Janna and I each have one daughter, and our girls will be embarking on new school adventures this fall…though at quite different points. My daughter is starting kindergarten and Janna’s daughter is starting college.
Our girls are on different coasts, at different stages of their education, but both transitions require organization. These next few posts will highlight some of the ways we are getting organized.
I’m approaching this kindergarten milestone like I do most important projects. First, I gather information. I’ve been talking to my mom friends of older kids to get their input on what I should be doing. I love learning from others and have already gotten some great advice.
Second, I’m making a list and checking it twice. Here are the big topics on the list:
That’s my strategy to keep it all together this month. Let’s see how it works!
That's Neat! Organizing Elizabeth Goodsell 617.905.7762
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